


After

by Kozakura_dono



Category: Bleach
Genre: Betrayal, Gen, Headcanon, Morally Ambiguous Character, My First Work in This Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-19 05:52:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5956062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kozakura_dono/pseuds/Kozakura_dono
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ichigo and Chad were friends.  At least, that's what Ichigo used to think.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After

Ichigo and Chad were friends.

At least, that’s what Ichigo used to think.

“You never thought that I might have liked to know you joined a creepy, powered up organization that promised you they could bring my powers back?”  He hadn’t meant to say that so sarcastically.  He really hadn’t.  Even still, it was strange, wasn’t it?  Didn’t friends normally tell each other things like that?

Chad eyed him from his dark fringe, and Ichigo glared right back up at him.  Chad could always be relied upon to be essentially expressionless.  That’d come in handy, sometimes, especially in the distant past when it was just the two of them against the world.  Not so much now.

“It wasn’t a big deal.”  Of course. 

“So, what, you just join secretive gangs and shit all the time?  I guess this was some day-to-day type of shit to you then?” Ichigo snarled.  What had happened between them that Chad wouldn’t just be straight with him anymore?

Chad just looked at him.  Looking into that single visible eye was like looking at a still, deep well, just a reflection of himself.  No anger, no guilt, no shame.

When had Ichigo ever seen any of those things in Chad’s gaze?

“It wasn’t any of your business, at first.”  None of his business.  Crazy gangs.  Secrets between best friends.

“I saw you everyday, talked to you, joked with you, and you never thought to tell me about any of this?  Please, Chad,” he paused here, having run out of anger for the moment, the burning emotion replaced by a sense of hurt.  Hurt that his nakama didn’t trust him anymore.

“I don’t understand.”  Because this was Chad.  Steady, reliable Chad, who had stuck with him through thick and thin, fought alongside him in battles he had no stake in. 

“It was my business.”  Still unruffled, steady, and toneless while Ichigo felt like the pit that Tsukishima had ripped into him by fucking with his friends and family was reopening and spoiling everything around it.

It wasn’t even _betrayal_.  Chad hadn’t lied, he hadn’t intentionally helped the enemy, he just…Never told Ichigo what he was up to because it was _his business_.

‘I’ll always stand behind you,’ Chad had told him once, long ago.  But that had implications, didn’t it?  It was impossible to know what happened behind you.  Impossible to know what someone was doing, impossible to predict their next actions unless they spoke up and announced it themselves.

“Just tell me next time, then.  Please.”  Chad still stared down at him impassively.

“It’s _my_ business.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t tell me!”  Ichigo exploded, throwing his hands up and spinning on his heel.  He paced away for a few moments and came back.

Chad was still standing there, waiting and listening and watching.

How was he so unaffected?

“I want you to talk to me.  We’re nakama; even if I can’t help you, I can always listen.”  No change.  Not even a subtle shift or a move to respond.

“Talk to me, damn it!”  Chad was silent for a while more.

“My business is not your concern, Ichigo.”  Ichigo found himself going still.

“Don’t,” he growled, stepping forward, feeling his newly returned reiatsu beginning to build around them, “Don’t tell me what is and isn’t my concern.”  He just wanted to help.  To protect, if need be.  This time had seen Chad and Orihime and just about everyone else brainwashed and mind raped.  What about next time?

Despite his rising reiatsu, despite Ichigo’s obvious fury and aggression… Chad did nothing.

“My business is _my_ business.”  What in the world was even going on?  Was Chad still affected from being essentially mind-fucked by Tsukishima?  Ichigo almost hoped so, as terrible as that was.  When had Chad ever been so unreasonable?

A chill swept through Ichigo.  Chad hadn’t ever been unreasonable, or at least he hadn’t seemed that way when he was being unreasonable for the benefit of others.  Letting himself get beaten halfway to death and not fighting back against would-be murderers had been his default before they made their pact all those years ago.  Hitting hollows he couldn’t even see had been pretty common for him before his Fullbring first manifested too. 

So this was that same trait but not for the benefit of others.  Was it fair of Ichigo to demand Chad share his personal business when his reckless stubborn streak was normally at no one else’s expense but his own? 

“Chad, you don’t have to tell me everything.  That’s not what I’m asking to know.  But if anything ever looks like shit’s about to go down, you know that I’m always there.  I want to be there, and I’m able to do that now.”  Chad was silent for a few moments while Ichigo waited.  He took that as a good thing because at least he wasn’t being immediately shot down.

“I’ll consider it.”  Ichigo sighed.  That was probably the best he was going to get at that moment until Chad had pondered and decided for himself.

Ichigo would never abandon his nakama, but what if they chose to leave him?  He didn’t know how he would deal with that.  With a final sigh, he turned and headed home.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first story here. Kinda weird, but I think I like it. Ummm... Actual notes now. I haven't watched or read Bleach in a really long time, but I do know that by this point in the story, Chad was really neglected as a character. I'm pretty sure it was Chad who introduced Ichigo to the rest of the Fullbringers, and I don't think a conversation like this ever happened in cannon, so I wrote one out.


End file.
